Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Orders placed with U.S. factories
increased less than forecast in December, reflecting a drop in
non-durable goods that partly countered gains in construction
equipment and computers.

Bookings climbed 1.8 percent after a revised 0.3 percent
drop in November that was initially reported as unchanged,
figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington.
The Bloomberg survey median called for a 2.3 percent gain.
Demand for durable goods increased 4.3 percent, little changed
from a 4.6 percent gain estimated last week, while non-durables
dropped 0.3 percent on declines in petroleum and tobacco.

A fourth-quarter pickup in consumer spending is spurring
companies including automakers such as Chrysler Group LLC and
Ford Motor Co., reviving a manufacturing industry that cooled in
the second half of 2012. The acceleration extended into January,
according to a gauge last week that showed factories expanded at
the strongest pace in nine months.

“Manufacturing’s fine,” said Brian Jones, senior U.S.
economist at Societe Generale in New York, who projected a 1.9
percent gain in orders. “The economy continues to improve.”

Estimates in the Bloomberg survey of 63 economists ranged
from a drop of 0.3 percent to a 3 percent gain.

Job Prospects

A measure of job prospects fell in January for the first
time in four months as more Americans said jobs were harder to
get, another report showed. The Conference Board’s Employment
Trends Index decreased 0.1 percent to 109.38 from the prior
month’s revised reading of 109.47, the New York-based private
research group said. The measure increased 2.7 percent from
January 2012.

Stocks fell, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index jumped
to a five-year high, on concern over increasing political
tension in Europe. The S&P 500 dropped 0.6 percent to 1,503.63
at 10:25 a.m. in New York.

The jump in bookings for durable goods was paced by a 12.2
percent increase in construction equipment and a 6.4 percent
gain for computers.

Non-Durable Goods

The drop in orders for non-durable goods, reported today
for the first time, may have been influenced by swings in
prices. Demand for petroleum and coal products fell 0.6 percent
in December, while tobacco slumped 23.1 percent.

Demand for capital goods excluding aircraft and military
equipment, and including items such as computers, engines and
communications gear, fell 0.3 percent compared with the 0.2
percent increase the Commerce Department estimated in its Jan.
28 durable goods report. The increase for November was revised
up to 3.3 percent from 3 percent.

Shipments of those goods, used in calculating gross
domestic product, climbed 0.2 percent, about the same as the
previously estimated 0.3 percent gain. Total shipments advanced
0.4 percent, keeping the inventory-to-sales ratio at 1.27
months.

Today’s updated figures will probably not alter the data
issued by the Commerce Department last week. Business investment
in equipment and software climbed at a 12.4 percent annual rate
in the fourth quarter, the best performance in more than a year,
according to last week’s report.

Economy Stalls

Growth in the world’s largest economy unexpectedly stalled
in the last three months of 2012 as military outlays plunged by
the most in 40 years and inventories grew at a slower pace.
Gross domestic product shrank at a 0.1 percent annual rate from
October through December.

The auto industry remains a source of strength for
manufacturing and the economy. Light vehicles sold at a 15.2
million annual rate in January after 15.3 million in December,
according to data from Ward’s Automotive Group.

Sales for Chrysler, majority owned by Fiat SpA, climbed to
117,731 cars and light trucks from 101,149 a year earlier, led
by demand for its Dodge models, the Auburn Hills, Michigan-based
company said last week in a statement. The Dodge Dart compact
had its best month since its introduction in June.

Auto Sales

Chrysler plans to boost production to 2.6 million vehicles
in 2013, from 2.4 million last year and 2 million in 2011, said
Scott Garberding, senior vice president of manufacturing. The
company’s sales gain in January extended Chrysler’s stretch of
year-over-year increases to 34 months.

A report last week signaled manufacturing is improving at a
faster-than-expected pace. The Institute for Supply Management’s
factory gauge advanced to 53.1 last month from December’s 50.2,
exceeding the highest estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 86
economists. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.

Stabilization in the global economy may begin helping
companies such as United Technologies Corp. The Hartford,
Connecticut-based maker of Carrier air conditioners and Otis
elevators said its Asian sales will rise about 7 percent to 8
percent in the next decade on more construction of skyscrapers
in China.

Growth in the U.S. may be 2 percent to 3 percent and little
changed in Europe, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Louis
Chenevert, 55, said in an interview in Singapore today.